Pork Spare Ribs

July 5th, 2010 Bart

Pork Spare Ribs go by several different names. Sometimes they’re also called Side Ribs or St. Louis style ribs. They’re the cheapest cuts of pork ribs — I find them to be less tender than Baby Back Ribs, but they also contain more meat. Unfortunately, unless they’re cooked properly, they can be chewy and tough, so my favorite way to cook these ribs is at a low temperature over a long period of time.

Pork Spare Ribs with Jamaican Jerk Sauce

I made these Pork Spare Ribs on the barbecue at about 300 degrees F, slow roasted over four hours. About half-way through the roasting, the sky opened up, and a major thunderstorm moved in. Although I was totally drenched, the pork spare ribs fared well, and were tasty. These ribs were prepared using a Jamaican Jerk Barbecue sauce. I got the recipe for the Jerk Sauce while vacationing at Sandals Negril Jamaica, and the fine folks there were nice enough to share their recipe with me. High Definition Video and complete recipe can be found by following the link.

High Definition Video Presented Here:

Preparation time: 30 minutes

Cooking time: 4 hours

Serves: 4 to 6 people, depending on portion size

Ingredients:

2 Full Racks of Port Side Ribs (aka Spare Ribs or St. Louis Style Ribs)

For the Jamaican Jerk Barbecue sauce:

1 yellow onion, finely chopped

4 scallions, sliced into 2-inch lengths

2 cloves garlic, peeled

3 tablespoons freshly grated ginger (1 2-inch piece)

4 sprigs fresh thyme, minced

1 tablespoon ground allspice berries

1 teaspoon ground nutmeg

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1 Scotch Bonnet pepper or jalapeno pepper, halved and seeded

Juice of 2 limes

3 tablespoons soy sauce

1 teaspoon ground black pepper

2 teaspoons brown sugar (adjust to taste)

1 tablespoon cooking oil

1/2 cup ketchup

1/2 cup pineapple juice

In the bowl of a food processor or in a blender, puree the Jamaican Jerk Barbecue Sauce ingredients until well combined. Remember the heat of the sauce can be adjusted by adjusting the amount of pepper. I like my jerk sauce a bit sweet, so I add brown sugar in addition to the sweetness of the pineapple juice.

Remove the membrane from the back of the ribs. This is important, as failure to do so will make the ribs chewy, as it takes a long time for the membrane to break down.

Rub the jerk sauce that you just created over the ribs and let it sit for a couple of hours. In addition to serving as a sauce, it also acts as a marinade.

Grill ribs over indirect heat on the grill, spreading the jerk sauce on the ribs occasionally, until ribs are very tender, about 4 hours at between 275-300 Degrees F. When the meat is easily ripped with you fingers, and falling off the rib bones, the spare ribs are done.